We've been lied to ...

.... and to be completely honest, for far too long. I'm sure to many this doesn't come as a surprise because there are many of us out there who are "skeptics" and look at things critically. To those who are the "rule followers" though, this may come as a surprise.

And now you're probably wondering what the fuck I am talking about!!! I'm talking about food, I'm talking about snacks, I'm talking about 3+ meals per day and I'm talking about Big Food and Big Pharma.

Here's the "Coles Notes" version:

After having my youngest child, I went through severe postpartum depression and anxiety. It still bites me from time to time but back then it was debilitating. I didn't want to live. I was medicated, going for counselling and hugely struggling. My therapist told me to start running - so I did. And for a long time I ran and called myself Forrest Gump. This led me to the gym which led me to Zumba which led me to coaching and with each "step" my nutrition improved because my body craved better food.

When I entered the coaching world, I was introduced to 2 different nutrition programs - and they are both amazing. Super simple, sustainable, make sense, and easy to implement for families, busy people, etc. We are even taught how to incorporate wine, sweets & treats, and to truly live and enjoy life without food restrictions.

So what happens when the nutrition plans you work with and so thoroughly believe in, stop working for you??? THIS WAS MY REALITY!

About 3 years ago, I started noticing 3-4 pounds per year coming on. Clothes were a bit tighter. I was eating well, I was exercising, and nothing shifted. For a month I followed one of the programs and nothing changed. For another month, I followed the other program and nothing changed. I added in double workouts with closely monitored nutrition and nothing changed. There was only one explanation - hormones.

But what does that really mean? We often hear about hormones - but when I used to hear that word, I only ever thought of estrogen and testosterone. NEVER DID I THINK INSULIN!!!

I feel truly blessed being in the coaching world because it has presented me with so many opportunities to learn and educate myself so that I can help my clients and coaches succeed as well. One of these opportunities is a course I am currently taking with a Functional Medicine Doctor who is teaching us about hormone imbalance, weight-loss struggles, and more. My mind has been blown .... so much of what we know in terms of food & eating is NOT based on science - it is consumerism and food / pharma companies pushing these ideas on us!

Did you know that MOST of our obesity problems / type 2 diabetes / and even weight-loss struggles can be fixed with fasting?

Yes, I said fasting - NOT eating! And hear me out on this. When we eat a caloric restricted diet, we are still EATING so our body is still producing insulin. As a result of the lower calories, our body panics and says "I'm going to slow down your metabolism because I'm used to 1500 calories / day". This leads to being cold, lethargic, low energy, and the vicious weight-loss struggle.

When we fast, our bodies are NOT producing insulin and therefore we are able to tap in to fat stores, reduce our insulin levels, not run solely on glycogen and SO MUCH MORE! If you are looking for a couple of great resources try:

• The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung

• The Complete Guide to Fasting by Dr. Jason Fung

This is completely the OPPOSITE of what we have been told for so long - "don't miss a meal", "eat snacks between meals", "eat 4-6 times per day", "your body will go in to starvation mode", yada yada yada yada - and the only reason we are told these things is because we are being SOLD on buying food we don't need!

Nobody tells us to fast because there is NO MONEY IN FASTING!!!

So being that I have struggled so much over the past 3 years with this, I decided to give it a try. I am fairly certain that 12 years of birth control pills put me in to a progression of insulin resistance that is just manifesting now as I am almost 45. Insulin resistance is the #1 cause of obesity - NOT overeating. And to be completely honest, I had NO idea that type 2 diabetics still produced insulin - their bodies just don't know what to do with it as they have become resistant to it.

Do you know what the treatment is for type 2 diabetes? First it's metformin which helps reduce blood sugar but after that - it's insulin. Why does someone who is producing insulin need more of it??? THEY DON'T and more insulin just results in more weight gain! Yet nobody questions that because we rely on the advice of our doctors who in medical school take about 4 hours of courses on nutrition. Question this my friends - yes we need our doctors; but it's ok to question why we should be taking more insulin when our bodies are already making it!

When I started my first longer fast I wondered if I would be hungry. I wondered if I would be able to workout (I always workout in a fasted state because I have been Intermittent Fasting for quite some time now and I prefer to workout that way). I wondered if I would be able to do it. This was my first attempt at it:

• dinner at 7:30 pm on Thursday night

• Friday consisted of water, lemon water, coffee, herbal tea, and some bone broth

• Saturday had lunch around 1pm

I felt AMAZING! Tons of energy, super clean and focused head, workout was great, I was NOT hungry. Since then I have continued with my 16/8 Intermittent Fasting (I eat between 12pm and 8pm) and done a 24 hour fast (dinner to dinner) as well as another 40+ hour fast and I cannot believe how simple they are. Not only am I feeling amazing, I am spending less on groceries because I DO NOT NEED IT and I am down 2lbs in just 2.5 weeks.

Sometimes we have to question the norm and question the conventional. Maybe you think I'm crazy and you are allowed your opinion - but when we look at our ancestors they lived in periods of feast & famine - perhaps we need to get back to the "famine"? We can't always live in feast and then wonder why obesity and type 2 diabetes are on the rise .... it's time to open our eyes and question this norm .... our health & our kids health need us to!